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Are proteins bright cartoonish colors, or sort of clear? Are cells empty spaces with some few things in them, or packed almost solid? Are molecules moving along trajectories with intent, or slamming about with shocking violence and randomness? The problem isn't that the authors think proteins are actually bright cartoonish colors. Nor that such colorization isn't pedagogically useful. The problem is that many students, unsure which aspects of what they are seeing are real, and which are artistic license, are known to get it wrong. Are known to end up believing that bodies and cells are big empty-ish spaces, and that molecular motion isn't extremely violent. As here. That stately motion, is artistic license, not reality. The critique of the authors, is that they are failing to do some things which would reduce the creation and reinforcement of these student misconceptions. They could have for instance, retained the stately motion for its pedagogic value, but added a brief clip of more realistic motion, to inoculate against the misconception. But they failed to do that. Hmm, as for the cartoon colors, I don't actually know if some students end up believing they are real. I'd expect so. I do know many students believe blood changes from red to blue, based on the colors in a common circulatory system diagram, reinforced by vein color observed through skin. I've a paper around here, somewhere, on kinesin towing physical dynamics, if that's something you'd care about. |